Johnny Cash, ‘Hurt’ (2003)

There may be no better backstory in the history of music videos than that for the Mark Romanekdirected clip of Johnny Cash’s cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt.” Filmed just seven months before the Man in Black’s death, the video juxtaposes images of the then 71-year-old Cash with footage of him from his earlier years. Romanek doesn’t romanticize the legendary country star: filming took place at the derelict House of Cash museum in Nashville, and the camera lingers over fruit and flowers in various states of decay (“That’s when I got the idea that maybe we could be extremely candid about the state of Johnny’s health, as candid as Johnny has always been in his songs,” said Romanek). It won a slew of awards, remains many people’s favorite video of all time and tugs at the heartstrings upon each and every watch. By the time it ends, with Cash closing a piano and brushing his hands over it, his epitaph has not so much been written as filmed.